Developers have been working on virtual reality since the 1950s, when Morton Heilig came up with the Sensorama. Technology has evolved massively in the decades since then, with the last ten years witnessing some of the fastest progression yet.
VR is now poised to revolutionize the way we communicate, and projections suggest it will boom in the 2030s. With some of today’s most advanced devices already operating independently of laptops and desktops, there is a chance that computers could be replaced in the future.
Virtual Reality Projected to Boom in the 2030s
According to the latest research, the virtual reality market is expected to grow to more than $435 billion by 2030. To put that into perspective, the total gaming market in 2023 is only valued at £385 billion. VR is expected to be massive soon, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
When VR becomes a mainstream piece of tech, it will pave the way for Web3, a new way to experience the online world. Instead of viewing web pages on computer screens, users are more likely to be walking around VR settings with information presented to them in new ways. Many of the functions that computers are used for now will be superfluous in the future, as artificial intelligence will perform many of the tasks that were once done on desktops and laptops.
VR headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 are now available as standalone pieces of hardware that don’t need a computer to function. As the VR industry evolves, the devices will become even less reliant on existing tech and will come with everything they need to run built-in. In the future, users will be able to perform actions simply by thinking. At that point, it’s hard to think what computers will still be needed for.
Gaming Industry Will Play Huge Role in VR’s Rise
The projections may paint the picture that VR is going to be huge soon, but it’s hard for people to imagine now. VR is still far from being a household item, and it needs the backing of major industries to get to that point. PlayStation has begun to introduce VR games, but the offerings are still rudimentary compared to the advanced open-world titles on the platform.
Many people expect the online casino industry to have the same effect on VR as it did on mobile. Casino sites boosted smartphones majorly throughout the 2010s, with slot games geared to users of portable devices. Now, games like Big Catch Fishing and 9 Bubbles Pop are specifically designed with the mobile user in mind. Developers in the industry are already coming up with ways to incorporate VR, and this could lead to original game concepts that haven’t been seen before. With the millions of worldwide players in the industry, it could act as a catalyst for VR’s growth.
Just as the typewriter was replaced by the computer, the latter could soon find that it’s subject to the same treatment in the years ahead. VR is soon set to take over, and it will be backed by some of the internet’s biggest industries. There will be a point in its evolution when it begins to negate the need for computers.
